Opinion: Fair to worry about Trump response to loss

Here we are, on the cusp of one of the most consequential elections in American history, with the choices for president as different as night and day.

Three big questions remain: Who will win the presidency? Which political party will win control of the U.S. Senate and House? And what will the losers do after the winners emerge?

Polls and pundits tell us it’s too close to call in the presidential election. I expect Kamala Harris to win the overall popular vote, just as the Democratic candidate has in every presidential election since 2004, but our antiquated Electoral College may determine a different winner. That’s how Trump won in 2016, with fewer votes than Hillary Clinton but more Electoral College votes. It could happen again this year.

As for the question of who will win the House and Senate, that’s pretty much up in the air, too, and while the presidential race may feel like the end-all-be-all for the future of our democratic republic, who controls Congress will be the difference between a president whose power is held in check and one who is unleashed.

If Trump and the Republicans win the presidency and the House and Senate, coupled with the Supreme Court’s clearly Republican bend, we really will be one step closer to a dictatorship.

If Harris and the Democrats were to win all that, they’ll still be kept in check by a supermajority of Supreme Court justices.

Unfortunately for Harris and the Dems, a sweep of both the presidency and Congress is highly unlikely, at least according to the polling. The ABC News affiliate fivethirtyeight.com recently ran a couple of “simulations” that suggest the Republicans will recapture the Senate and retain the House, but again, nobody knows until the votes are counted.

I’m particularly interested in the Republican Ted Cruz’s bid for re-election, which is anything but a sure thing. His Democratic challenger, Rep. Colin Allred, is running neck-and-neck with Cruz, which is one of the reasons why both Trump and Harris deviated from their seven tossup states focus to campaign in Texas; both realize the importance of this Senate race.

Texas has been a Republican “red” state for years now, but it’s been edging closer to Democratic “blue” in recent elections, which has the GOP shaking in its boots and the Dems charged up and ready to do battle.

As for the third question about what the losers will do, that’s a lopsided question, because the Democrats have conceded every election they’ve lost in modern time, including the 2000 presidential election, when the Supreme Court stopped the Florida count, thereby handing over the presidency to Republican George W. Bush. Despite that highly contentious ruling, the Democrat’s candidate, Al Gore, conceded the election for the good of the nation.

Clearly, that wasn’t the case in 2020, when Trump was soundly defeated by Joe Biden but claimed without any solid evidence that the election had been stolen from him. If you believe that, you must want to believe it, because there’s no real evidence it actually happened. Biden’s win has been backed up by the courts time and time again.

If Trump loses this time around, he will surely cry foul just as he did last time. Then we’ll see who is willing to back a habitual liar and cheater regardless of the facts.

Tom McDonald is editor of the New Mexico Community News Exchange. Contact him at:

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